


Till We Meet Again

by babystepsarrangements



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A bit of hoshi here, I really don't know how to add tags, M/M, One Shot, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 11:29:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14736135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babystepsarrangements/pseuds/babystepsarrangements
Summary: Choi Seungcheol had no idea what he was landing himself into, but one thing he realised was that he shouldn't really take things for granted.





	Till We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, so please spare me if there's any errors in the story! And you're welcome to comment below:))

words in _italic_ : a flashback

* * *

 

 

*Clank clunk*

You hear empty beer cans being tossed roughly onto the floor, creating utter ruckus to the people living one level below the rooftop. The person had done it again for the fifth time this week. You wake up to the loud cluttering of cans, but you didn't want to because it was too early in the morning. 

*Thump* 

That was all you heard after a good 3 minutes or so of silence. You hurriedly scrambled out of the house to find out the source of the sound. There lay on the cold hard floor outside the building lay the motionless body of the owner. A pool of dark crimson liquid started to form around the body, staining his pristine white shirt buttoned-down shirt.

 

Everyone, who knew the owner of the noise, was devastated by his sudden death. Nobody knew the reason as to why he had decided to take his own life. They thought he had lived a pleasant life, enjoying his lifetime away in a large office of his own, basking in wads and wads of money in his bank account. He had nothing to worry about, they thought. Only one guy knew the truth. Only one.

 

Choi Seungcheol was a rich business man's son. He had all he wanted in the world ever since he was born. A large mansion to live in, tons of maids to serve him, freedom to go anywhere he wished. This was what people like us wished for. This was Seungcheol's life, but he decided to end it.

 

When Seungcheol was attending university, he met a boy, a very nice boy indeed. The boy had dyed his hair peach pink, blending just perfectly with his milky white skin. The first time Seungcheol looked into the boy's eyes, he saw hope, joy and future. Those accented dark brown eyes of the boy's pulled Seungcheol into, a little dangerously close to his liking but he didn't complain anyway. As days passed, the bridge between Seungcheol and Jihoon became much closer and Jihoon, being an introvert, opened up to the older boy quickly. Seungcheol often brought Jihoon on little dates every day without fail, especially coffee dates. He knew Jihoon loved iced Americano and he knew Jihoon loved coffee as much as he loved Seungcheol. Seungcheol was never a person to rush into relationships but he was one very impatient person. When things didn't go according to his way, he would go into a rage, slamming everything in his way. And there was this once he went too far. 

* * *

 

The both men, now adults, had only maintained a minimum physical contact relationship. All they ever did were merely holding of hands and pecking softly on each other's lips. They never went passed that barrier. Jihoon wasn't ready. But Seungcheol broke the barrier which was used to sustain the already thin line between the both of them. Their relationship hung dangerously on the edge, threatening to collapse anytime. Jihoon did not say anything, obviously, based on his personality. He allowed Seungcheol to roam over him, all of a sudden feeling very exposed, even to his boyfriend. You could consider Jihoon a very quiet person. He could barely start a conversation with Seungcheol every morning and sometimes their mornings passed silently, only with the sounds of the television or the typing away at the laptops.

 

"Jihoon is driving me crazy, oh my god. I think I had enough of such life. But I can't leave him, he's my only way to survive." Seungcheol poured his heart out to his best friend over a table of drinks one late night. "Hey, I think you should go home. Jihoon will be worried about you. Let's go." Soonyoung offered but only to be rejected by Seungcheol. "Why should I go home That isn't my home anymore! It's a battle of silence... Jihoon doesn't speak for goodness sake. It's too quiet... Do you how hard it is, Soon? He..." Clearly Seungcheol was drunk, couldn't even finish his sentence and he was stumbling to get more drinks. Left with no other choice, Soonyoung dragged the drunk man all the way to the taxi stand while the latter muttered rubbish along the way. Soonyoung wondered how Jihoon looked like or how he behaved in the taxi ride but he could never voice it out loud. He would get skinned alive by Seungcheol.

 

The drunk Seungcheol stumbled into the house, making his way straight to the sofa without taking off his shoes. Jihoon, as his usual self, invited the new face for a seat and immediately attended to his boyfriend. He carefully removed Seungcheol's shoes and socks and peeled his outer coat off his big frame in order not to stir Seungcheol up from his sleep. Soonyoung was standing awkwardly at one side, holding a cup of water observing the scene unrolling before him. He was attracted by the way Jihoon treated Seungcheol so lovingly and had never complained once that night. He was attracted by the way Jihoon's light brown hair bounced up and down as he fumbled about Seungcheol. He was attracted by the bright moonlight shining down on Jihoon, casting a shadow on his face and his milky skin reflecting the moonlight. But why couldn't Seungcheol cherish all these? He was lucky to have Jihoon, Soonyoung would die to date him. He saw how Jihoon was struggling to carry Seungcheol's dead weight on his tiny fragile shoulders and decided to help out a little. Soonyoung and Jihoon talked quite a bit that night, often with Soonyoung trying to get Jihoon interested with different topics. Surely, Soonyoung started to fall in love with Jihoon.

 

Once in a while, Soonyoung would accompany Seungcheol up to his house to pay a visit to Jihoon and he noticed the poor boy getting skinnier day by day. But he could do nothing about it. Jihoon was not his. There's nothing he could do. Unless... unless he made Jihoon his, he could give Jihoon a better life than Seungcheol could offer.

 

He decided to compete for Jihoon's heart with Seungcheol.

 

He knew that it's awful fighting for the heart of the same person with your best friend, but he couldn't help it. Soonyoung just wanted to protect Jihoon too much.

One day Soonyoung seized the chance to visit Jihoon when Seungcheol was out as usual at 10 a.m. sharp and knocked on the door 5 minutes later. "Hey Seungcheol, have you forgot-" Jihoon assumed that the person knocking on the door was his boyfriend and he was shocked to find out that his best friend was here instead.

"Hi Jihoon."

"Oh hi Soonyoung. Come in and have a seat please. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure thanks."

"So why are you here for? I mean it's not a bad thing that someone actually visits me during office hours but aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Once again Soonyoung stared at the graceful actions of Jihoon preparing Chamomile tea (one of Jihoon's personal favourites) and imagined how Jihoon's small frame would perfectly fit into his body frame when he would knock off from work and give Jihoon a back hug.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh it's nothing. I took a leave from work today. Too tired to work so I decided to come up here. Am I disturbing you?"

"Oh no no no I was bored actually. Being stuck all day at home, only going out when I'm going for grocery shopping."

They had a nice exchange, and Soonyoung believed he was one step closer to Jihoon's heart when suddenly he went "Leave Seungcheol for me. I will treat you better, much better than Seungcheol. Look at you, he doesn't even give a damn fuck about you and let alone you are cooped up at home because of him?" The last sentence came out a little too angry and Soonyoung found himself panting in anger. Jihoon stared at Soonyoung, eyes wide in shock when everything Soonyoung said was processed into his mind.

"No. I can't do that. Seungcheol is nice to me just that you don't notice it. Please leave right now. I'm busy cleaning up the house." Jihoon could not bear to hear what else Soonyoung was going to say anymore. Soonyoung was lost for words. He completely expected Jihoon to agree with him and leave Seungcheol for him. He knew it would be difficult to try to lure Jihoon out of his zone but deep down in his heart, in his mind, "give up" was not found in his dictionary. Soonyoung knew that there was no point in persuading the brunette as he learnt about his adamant personality after those weeks of interaction.

After Soonyoung left, Jihoon sat on the sofa pondering over Soonyoung’s last words. Was it that obvious that Soonyoung could see through him. The thought of the past deeds Seungcheol treated him subconsciously appeared in his mind and Jihoon immediately swiped it away, convincing himself to think positively.

But the past kept haunting him, whether he was sleeping or awake, whether he was alone or accompanied, whether he had Seungcheol sleeping beside him. The images always came in fragmented pieces. That noon as Jihoon fell asleep on the kitchen counter top, the past came back to find him. _Jihoon backed away at the corner while Seungcheol’s fist drew into a ball. Jihoon was trembling. Seungcheol was seething. Jihoon could see invisible smoke coming out of his ears and the blood vessels in his eyes threatened to burst open. He didn’t like this side of Seungcheol, but he couldn’t avoid meeting this side of Seungcheol. He hated it. He loathed it, but he could do nothing to avoid it. No matter what he had done, the devil would always take over Seungcheol’s body, changing Seungcheol into a totally different person. Jihoon felt pain shooting across him, on his face, abdomen, hands and legs. He was tempted to run away from the devil, but his legs were stuck to the ground, giving Seungcheol chances to throw blows after blows at Jihoon. After the devil was done, Seungcheol crouched down to eye level, softly caressing Jihoon’s cheeks, all stained with dried tears. “It’s okay. Its okay.” Seungcheol said. “I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll never treat you like that ever again.”_  The promise was never granted.

Strangely enough, Soonyoung never came back. Jihoon felt relieved but there was a weird empty weight pressing atop his heart when he would never hear the ringing of the door. It seemed like Seungcheol knew of Soonyoung’s confession and forced him to disappear completely from their lived. Jihoon never mentioned of Soonyoung again after noticing Seungcheol’s subtle twitches whenever his friend came over.

 

In fact, Seungcheol knew. He knew about what his best friend said to his lover. He was already on his way to the carpark when he realised he had forgotten to fetch his documents for a meeting later. Just as he was about to unlock the main door, he wished with all his might that he had never introduced his friend to his lover. “Leave Seungcheol for me.” He froze. Seungcheol never expected his best friend to develop feelings for Jihoon.

 

Seungcheol was positive he didn’t wish for that to happen, but he just couldn’t control himself when he saw Jihoon softly laughing at Soonyoung’s jokes whenever he came over to their shared apartment for tea. Jihoon used to do that too… It was those university times when they used to think the whole universe belonged to them only. Seungcheol would always catch himself staring at the younger’s eyes forming into little crescent or the subtle blushed spreading all over his cheeks. Those were the times… Jihoon never did it again to him but to Soonyoung instead… His Jihoon.

 

The toxic relationship continued for years, taking a great toll on Jihoon’s body and cause his health to deteriorate further. Seungcheol had the ‘treatment’ towards Jihoon but that didn’t mean that he was cherishing Jihoon all over again.  As for Soonyoung, Jihoon had never heard of his news ever since he rejected Soonyoung’s proposal.

 

“Seungcheol, when would you start talking to me again? It had been ages since we had a proper conversation together.” Jihoon decided to take the opportunity to start a conversation with Seungcheol, who was sitting on the couch, flipping television channels after channels. Seungcheol looked a little annoyed at Jihoon’s choice of words and replied curtly “baby, it wasn’t me who shut you away. Guess how long we have stopped all these years and only now have u start to talk to me?”

 

Seungcheol tried to sound as casual as he could but it turned out to be harsher than he expected. “you’re right, I should have initiated. I’m sorry…” Jihoon’s voice was shaking badly though trying his best to maintain his composure. “I think its time we come to an end… Thank you for all the lovely memories we’ve made before.” Seungcheol momentarily lost his words, never had he thought the boy with a mild temper to say such words. They pierced through his heart, bleeding more as he just stared at the boy shuffle into the room. Jihoon reappeared again after an hour with a huge luggage bag which could possibly fit him inside. He took one last look around the house and quietly picked up his shoes and left the house.

 

Despite the raging love for the younger boy in the bottom of his heart, Seungcheol couldn’t bring himself to hold back Jihoon and beg him to stay. He just looked on and returned to whatever he was doing, listening to the rustling of keys and the thud of the door closing. Seungcheol blamed his pride that caused him to lose the last bit of warmth running in his body, the last hope of feelings he would ever have for someone.

 

Later that week Seungcheol received a piece of news to which he hoped that day never came. As he was lounging in his office room, he came across an article on a fatal hit-and-run accident which caused the death of one boy named Lee Jihoon.

 

Seungcheol couldn’t accept whatever he was reading and began to shut himself away from everyone. He continued to return to the cold and empty house where he could still feel Jihoon’s presence roaming in the house. He could smell the dinner Jihoon used to prepare for them when he would come home from work. They would talk about their day in the first few ‘domestic’ years but stopped ever since the toxicity started to kick in. these memories rushed back into Seungcheol’s mind like a hurricane and all the feelings kind of kicked him in the gut. He ran into the bathroom and threw up whatever he had eaten for lunch earlier that day.

* * *

The wee hours of the day always seemed the loneliest for Seungcheol. He would be awakened by Jihoon’s cries in his sleep and resorted to drinking at the rooftop until he returned to a silent house. Seungcheol scoffed at this memory as he made his way to his usual place for the fifth time this week. In the past, Seungcheol would do anything for some peace in the house and now he had realised he took the sounds for granted all the while. He regretted every single choice he had made, including hurting Jihoon in every way he could imagine.

 

“Sorry Jihoon… Sorry… I shouldn’t have said those words to you…” Seungcheol took a swing of his beer and got choked up at the image of Jihoon in his mind. “If I could turn back the time, I would wish for everything to turn out nice and loving between us. If only I could…” Seungcheol stared into the plain night sky. There wasn’t much stars at night and only one: shining brightly in the sky. As if it was shining down on him. “If I were to go to you and apologise to you right now, would you forgive?” the bright star he was talking to seemed to give Seungcheol an answer. Seungcheol smirked “Thank you for staying with me all these while, till we meet again.” He threw his beer cans down onto the cold rooftop tile and the next moment, there on his cold hard floor outside the building lay the motionless body of Seungcheol. A pool of dark crimson liquid started to form around his body, staining his pristine white buttoned-down shirt a dark shade of red, followed by a slight gradient of red to pink. Seungcheol was finally reunited with Jihoon high up in the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this does not disappoint you loll. Thanks for reading!!


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